Strapless brassiere



Sept. 7, 1965 J. WINKLER 3,204,638

STRAPLESS BRASSIERE Filed NOV. 26, 1965 Y AVI, A

I NVE NTOR. Jn/v WA/KLEQ BY v "J, I

United States Patent O 3,204,638 STRAPLESS BRASSIERE Jean Winkler, Sherman Oaks, Calif., assgnor of one-half to Daniel M. Winkler, Beverly Hills, Calif. Filed Nov. 26, 1963, Ser. No. 326,145 1 Claim. (Cl. 12S-502) This invention relates to strapless brassieres, and is particularly concerned with a strapless brassiere which is essentially backless and which is designed to be firmly supported on the body of the wearer.

Strapless, backless brassieres have been designed incorporating along the lower edge a resilient or yieldable arcuately shaped band which encircles the front and sides of the wearers body at a location just beneath the breasts. Such brassieres of the prior art are supported mainly by the force of engagement of the band in tension with the body when positioned thereon. However, the upper breast portions of such brassieres, and particularly the upper edge of these brassieres are not maintained in firm engagement with the body, and tend to sag downwardly away from the body. Thus, the wearer often must keep pulling the upper edge of thebrassiere toward the body, particularly when the wearer is walking or moving about rapidly, causing considerable annoyance and discomfort to the wearer. Although such brassieres have also been provided with stays in opposite breast portions of the brassiere in an attempt to give support to the upper portion of the brassiere, this still does not solve satisfactorily the tendency of the upper portion of the brassiere to disengage and sag away from the body.

Accordingly, an object of the instant invention is to provide a strapless, backless brassiere of improved design such that whenV properly worn, the brassiere is firmly supported along both its upper and lower portions or edges, and also at its central portion, on the body .of the wearer.

According to the invention, the above object is accomplished by the provision of a brassiere having a resilient arcuately shaped band along the lower edge which encircles the front and sides of the wearers body directly beneath the breasts, preferably terminating at locations substantially under the shoulder blades of the wearer, and a drawstring extending along the upper edge of the brassiere. When the drawstring is pulled and tied, preferably at the center of the brassiere, the breast covering portions of the brassiere are drawn together, and such breast portions and the upper edge of the brassiere are held securely and firmly in place .against the body.

As an auxiliary feature of the invention, the brassiere preferably is provided with a transverse or vertical exible supporting member or stay which extends across the central portion of the brassiere substantially from the lower edge to the upper edge of the brassiere. Such stay separates the opposite breast supporting portions of the brassiere and aids in maintaining such portions in proper position with respect to each other and in snug, close tting relation to the body, particularly when the drawstring is pulled and tied, as noted above.

This invention possesses many other advantages, and has other objects which may be made more clearly apparent from a consideration of a form in which it may be embodied. This form is shown in the drawings accompanying and forming a part of the present specification. It will now be described in detail, for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention; but it is to be understood that such detailed description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claim.

Referring to the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a front perspective view of the brassiere, shown applied to the wearer;

3,204,638 Patented Sept. 7, 1965 ICC FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the brassiere on the wearer;

FIG. 3 is a front elevation of the brassiere stretched out lengthwise in a plane;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged section taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 4is an enlarged section taken on line 5--5 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged section taken on line 6-6 of FIG. 3.

Referring to the drawing, a baclrless, strapless brassiere 10 comprises a breast covering body 18 of fabric, a resilient or yieldable band 12 of arcuate shape in its lower portion, as indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2, and a drawstring 14 extending along the upper edge of the brassiere. The yieldable band 12 extends along the lower edge of the brassiere and has a front portion 15 and arcuate side portions 16. Such band may be formed of plastic or metal, or of any flexible or spring-like material tending to contract into conformance with the body of the wearer, and having suiiicient elasticity or tension to grip the wearers body when placed around it. t

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the band 12 is enclosed in a fabric casing or pocket 20 substantially in the lower margin of the body 18 and is substantially coextensive therewith. The ends of the casing or pocket may be closed by stitching 22 to retain the band in place. The casing or pocket 20 is of U-shaped cross-section, including a front wall 23 and a rear wall 28. The front wall has an inner overlapping portion 24, and this portion and the rear wall 28 are secured to the lower margin of the fabric body 18 of the brassiere by a line of stitching 26. The rear wall is also stitched to the body 18 by a line of stitching 30, thus enclosing the lower edge of fabric portion ll8. The fabric body portion 18 is preferably formed of two layers 31 of material.

The side margins 32 of the fabric body 18 are inclined upwardly and inwardly toward each other, merging into the upper margins 34, 36 of the body 18, which have a slight downward curvature toward the center of the brassiere, as shown in FIG. 3. It is to be understood that the shape of the brassiere, as illustrated in FIG. 3, can be changed as desired, since the invention is not limited to any such particular shape.

The drawstring 14 extending along the upper edge of the brassiere is formed of a pair of separate strings or tapes 38, 40, which are disposed along the upper margins of the opposite breast portions 42, 44 of the fabric body 18. The strings 38, 40 can be formed of fabric which has been overlapped to form a double layer 46 of material, as shown in FIG. 4. The strings 38 and 40 are maintained in position along the upper edge of the brassiere by enclosing a substantial portion of each of the strings in a casing or pocket 50, the front face 52 of which is bent back on itself at 53, such overlapped portion being stitched at 54 to the upper margin of the fabric body 18. The rear face 56 of the casing or pocket S0 is also stitched adjacent to the upper margin of the fabric body 18, thus enclosing the upper edge of the body 18. The front face 52 of each pocket terminates near the center of the body 18 to allow the strings to pass out of the pockets.

It will be seen in FIG. 3 that the pocket. 50 for each of the strings 38 and 40 extends from the outer ends of the upper margin of the brassiere, adjacent to the upper ends 0f the side margins 32, inwardly to a position closely adjacent to but spaced from the center 60 of the upper margin of the brassiere. The outer ends of the strings or tapes 38, 40 are connected to the brassiere by stitching 62. The exposed portions of the strings 38, 40 are of a length suflicient to pull the strings toward each other and conveniently tie a bow 64 (FIG. l).

If desired, auxiliary supports in the form of stays 66 A central stay 72 of a flexible material similar to that of stays 66, but preferably of thinner cross-section, is secured in the body 18, extending substantially vertically from the lower to the upper margins of the brassiere, as seen in FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 6, the stay 72 can be disposed in a vertical pocket 90 formed by spaced lines of side stitching 74 securing the double layers 31 of the fabric body 18 to each other. An extra layer of material 78 may be disposed on both sides of the stay 72, being secured together by stitching 80.

In wearing the brassiere, the arcuate side portions 16 of the resilient band 12 are swung outwardly and the garment placed around the body 82 of the wearer, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the breasts being disposed in the portions 42, 44 and the ends of the band 12 terminating approximately under the shoulder blades, thus leaving substantially the entire back exposed. The central stay 72 is located between the breasts. The opposite strings 38 and 40 of drawstring 14 are then pulled together and tied to form a bow 64, as indicated in FIG. 1. Such action draws the upper margins of the two breast portions 42, 44 inwardly toward the center of the brassiere, and pulls the upper margins of the breast portion into close conformity with and firmly inwardly against the wearers body. By this means, the wearer is free to move about without the nuisance, danger and embarrassment of the upper margin and upper portion of the brassiere sagging loosely away from the body, avoiding the necessity for frequently pulling the upper edge and the upper portion of the brassiere toward the body. At the same time, the central stay 72 Imaintains the breast portions 42 and 44 separate and tends to snugly draw the breast-supporting portions of the brassiere about the breasts upon pulling and tying of the draw tapes 38, 40, thus further aiding in their support and improving the appearance of the wearer.

I claim:

A backless, strapless brassiere comprising a yieldable, preshaped arcuate band adapted to be positioned across the front of the wearers body just beneath the breasts, the band having sutcient length to extend around the sides of the body and terminate substantially under the shoulder blades at the back of the body, a breast covering fabric body supported by the band and including two breast covering portions and having side margins inclined upwardly and inwardly from the outer end portions of said band toward the upper, outer margins of said breast covering portions, said band extending along the lower margin of said fabric body substantially coextensive therewith, a pair of stays in said breast covering portions, each extending outwardly at an angle substantially from the lower to the upper margins of said fabric body, a central flexible stay in said fabric body between said breast covering portions extending substantially from the lower to the upper margins of said fabric body, a drawstring formed of a pair of strings, each extending along the upper margin of a breast covering portion of said fabric body, the outer end of each of said strings being connected to said fabric body substantially at the outer end of the upper margin of its associated breast covering portion adjacent to the associated side margin, and means for retaining each of said strings in position along the upper margin of its associated breast portion to a point adjacent to the center of the fabric body while permitting movement of said string in said upper margin of said breast portion, said strings being adapted to be pulled together substantially at the center of the upper margin of said fabric body to draw the breast covering portions of said fabric body and their upper margins in close conformity to the wearers body and breasts.

References Cited bythe Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS ADELE M. EAGER, Primary Examiner. 

